IHRSA's View of the State of the Industry

Tue, 2009-03-17 01:05

The show kicked off Monday night with IHRSA's state of the industry address, offered by Joe Moore, executive director. Moore welcomed the packed room of club owners/operators and other for-profit club staff from the United States and other countries to the IHRSA convention and trade show.

He mentioned that the economy may have some people concerned, but that the industry would not be retreating. He noted that as people are depressed and anxious, exercise can help relieve this stress. He also said that the medical community is paying more attention to the industry now, which should help increase the industry's prospects.

He noted the industry has $62.1 billion in global revenue and 110.4 million global members. He didn't offer revenue for the U.S. market, but he did say that the U.S. market has more than 30,000 health clubs.

I had been told that Moore would offer more details on the survey than the trade association did stating January 2009 results, but Moore did not note anything about that survey. I'll be checking with IHRSA next week to get more information.

Moore congratulated SPRI for being the IHRSA associate of the year. He then introduced Kent Stevens of Matrix, who introduced Joe Montana, the keynote speaker at Monday's opening. See the next blog entry for more on Joe Montana's presentation.